Here are the first sketches and lay-outs of our home. After reviewing some schematic options and giving our input to the architect, he created the following sketch based on the lay-out concepts we liked the most.
It’s cool to see the design come to life. We are one step closer to realizing the design of our home, although there are many more steps to go.
A retaining wall is required at the back of the house and another one at the parking spaces by the entrance to create a flat area for the on-site car turning area required by the council. There are two good outdoor areas, one shaded with a nice view and one sunny and sheltered from the wind behind the house. The house is a 69 m2 simple shape and open floor plan.
The roof angles down toward the west to give some shading on the west side of the house and to avoid overheating in summer. We will probably also need shutters or something else to block the harsh afternoon sun. We decided not to let solar panels play a too dominant a role in the design of the roof. We have enough space on the section to put them somewhere else and make the PV surface into something useful like a shed roof or storage space.
The main challenged we faced was to get the middle part of the house to work with accessibility, functionality and our design wishes. In that area, together with the architect, we are still playing around with some different lay-out options. Also we are still discussing the postion of the sofa, dining area and window positioning towards view and necessary shading. In the middle of the house we would like to create a loft to get some more space for storage and an extra sleeping area.
Here some other options.
Margriet Geesink